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Negro JournaJ in Okla-
homa. Oklahoma Historical Soelety
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A Paper with a policy
and a purpose.
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B4ITN
We Stand
% For the right of the voice
of men to be heard in
their own Government.
For Democracy that is
an actuality—not ritu-
alistic.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA, SEPT. 8, 1921
VOL. VI. NO. 40
TULSA LAW FIRM SAYS BLACK
DISPATCH MADE INCORRECT
STATEMENT REGARDING SUITS
FILED IN THAT CITY.
Editor Black Dispatch,
Oklahoma, Oklahoma.
Dear friend Dunjee: —
It is not the policy of this firm to
practice law or to try cases in the col-/
umns of the newspaper; but we havej
thought it due the general public to\
make some corrections with respect
to reports that have gone out In con-
nection with Injunction cases against
the city.
In a recent issue of your paper the
thought was conveyed that the N. A.
A. C. P. had scored a signal victory
in an injunction proceedings against
the city of Tulsa. In this week's is-
sue of The Oklahoma Sun, a local
colored paper, we have an article
from the pen of someone (the editor
informed us that Mr. Guest was the
man who furnished him with the in-
formation) stating that the victory
belonged not to the N. A. A. C. P. but
to Messrs. Guest, Burns and Scott.
Now here are the facts with respect
to this particular matter.
Joe Lockhard and P. S. Thompson—
thru our firm sought to enjoin the city
from molesting them in the rebuilding
of their homes. About two weeks
thereafter, and before the above case
could be heard, A. L. Young, thru Mr.
Guest, sought to enjoin the city from
molesting him in the rebuilding of
his home. Now it happened that
these two cases were set for hearing
on the same day, and they came on
to be heard. The city lodged a gen-
eral demurrer against both of them.
Messrs. Guest, Burns and Scott con-
fessed in open court that the demur-
rer was good as to their client, A. L.
Young. This case was dismissed and
a part of the lawyers asked the court's
permission to select a new client and
file a new case. This was granted
and a part of them withdrew for that
purpose. In the meanwhile, the city,
finding itself in deep water and about
to drown, asked permission to with-
draw its general demurrer at to our
clients and be given permission to
file a general denial. This was grant-
ed by the court over our protest.
Shortly thereafter, our firm made an
attack upon the legality of Ordinance
No. 2156 (the ordinance pagsed June
7, 1921 by the city attempting to ex-
tend the fire limit). This Ordinance
affected only one of our clients, Dr.
P. S. Thompson. The court reserved
its opinion for the time being and
stated that we would proceed to take
evidence. 'Evidence was taken up un-
til the noon hour in our case. There
was no other case before the court at
this time. At 1:30 p. m. the court
resumed. The city ■ filed a demurrer
to the evidence thtit had been intro-
duced by us. The court over-ruled
it in part and sustained it in part.
That is, the court held the demurrer
good as to Joe Lockard and bad as
to Dr. P. S. Thompson—-bad as to Dr.
Thompson for the reason that Ordi-
nance No. 2156 was absolutely void
and of no effect. Lockard lives in
the old fire limit created by Ordi-
nance No. 1841 in April 1918. At this
point Mr. Burns announced that they
were ready to file their new case—
one for Rev. Whittaker and requested
the court to permit the evidence that
our firm had submitted in our cause
become the evidence in the Whltaker
case and the city, not objecing, this
was done.
Now this is the record in the cases,
as is disclosed by our case—made
that we have for use in our appeal of
FEDERATION MEETING GOES TO
ARDMORE, ELECT MRS. COOPER
Muskogee Royally
Entertains State
Club Women
Muskogee, Okla., Aug. 5. (Special
to the Black Dispatch)—Tuesday
evening, Aug. 30, the visiting dele-
gates and citizens of the city were
royally netertained by the children
in a Cantata, "The Joljy Picnic Par-
ty," under the direction of Mrs. N.
W. Greene, president of the City Fed-
eration.
Wednesday morning the federation
convened in the auditorium of the
First Baptist Church with the presi-
dent, Mrs. A. H. Cooper, presiding. A
hearty welcome address was made by
Mrs. T. Blake of Muskogee and a very
pleasing response by Miss Asher of
Oklahoma City.
The credentials of delegates were
filed and committees were appointed.
A message of greeting was received
from Mr. Roscoe Dunjee, the accom-
plished editor of the Black Dispatch.
An instrumental solo was rendered
by the very accomplished musician,
Miss Eva Jessye. It was so pleasing
until the applause of the federation
demanded an encore.
Mrs. B. Osborne delivered in her
own pleasing way, a paper on the
Juvenile work of which she is direc-
tor, and through the splendid efforts
of Mrs. L. C. Jones, director of the
Mothers' Department, an interesting
program was rendered by some of the
juveniles of the city. The program fol-
lows:
Instrumental solo, Miss Katheryn
Hewitt; Reading and encore, Collata
Elliott; Vocal solo and encore, Sam-
my Sadler; Vocal solo, Mary Hewitt;
Vocal solo. Miss Alma Hodges; Vocal
Solo, Miss Lurlean Jackson; Asthetic
Dancing, Miss Sammy Sadler.
The Annual Address of the president
Mrs. A. H. Cooper, was indeed inter-
esting and full of enthusiasm.
Memorial services were held by the
chaplain. Mrs. Young of Guthrie, for
the following deceased members, all
of Muskogee clubs: Mrs. Carrie Cul-
lars, Mary Church Terrell Club; Miss
Aquilla O. Chadwick and Mrs. Hattie
Byrd Wesley, Francis Harper Club;
Mrs. Patsy Earnest of the Progres-
sive Art Club.
Eulogies were delivered by the fol-
lowing ladies: Mrs. B. S. Bell, P. A.
Club; Mrs. S. H. Reede and Mrs. L.
C. Jones of the F. H Club. Mrs. I. M.
McMlintock of the M. C. T. Club.
^ ^ „ Jhf c,lu^lad e? and friends of the
the Lockard case. This is the record took state officers and dele-
that was made. As was stated at the ftn n ^
onset, this firm is averse to this kind
of publicity; but as some of the law-
yers have been very unethical, we
feel justified for once in breaking
our rule. Instead of correcting the
false impression that has gone forth,
they seem bent upon lending it Wings.
We have the guess that they expect
to try out the many hard cases that
have grown out of the trouble here on
June 1st, last, and to which they have
fallen heir, they will have to do bet-
ter'than run to the newspapers of the
country with a lot of untrue stuff—
things that never happened. If any-
one doubts the statement we have
made herein, we shall be glad to sub-
mit positive proof.
Spears, Franklin & Chappelle,
Attorneys-at-Law.
Will Watch Har-
reld's Answer
Okmulgee, Okla.
September 2. 1921.
Mr. Roscoe Dunjee,
Editor Black Dispatch,
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Dear Friend Dunjee:
The distance that separates us at
this time will not permit me to shake
your hand, and express to you in per-
gates on a sight-seeing trip. The trip
included a visit to the State Boys and
Girls Industrial School and the State
Girls Trainings school at Taft, Okla.
Two very interesting papers, full
of information and food thought, were
delivered by Mrs. L. P. Zollar and Mr.
Bythella Taylor of Boley. Subjects:
"True Womanhood", and "Influence of
Environment."
The federation was highly enter-
tained Wednesday and Thursday by
the Muskogee Band. Several vocal
and instrumental numbers were ren-
dered by some of the most talented
singers and players in the state, name-
ly: Mrs. Beatrice Johnson Bell, ac-
companied by M!rs. Marie Price; an
encore was called for. A beautiful
duet by Mrs. Geraldine Thurston and
Mrs. Joe Ella Copeland, accompanied
by Miss Georgiana Brown. Excellent
Instrumental solos were played by
Miss Fay Trice and Miss Frankie
Price of Eufaula. Mrs. Bernice El-
lis-Perdue sang to attentive audiences
the two nights, accompanied by Mrs.
Tessie Ray Wilson; an encore was
called for. A beautiful solo was ren-
dered by a very promising young
singer. Miss Rosalia Anderson, ac-
companied by Mrs. Marie Price. A
lovely quartette was rendered by Miss
Jessye Mae Thomas, Mrs. Geraldine
Thurston, Mrs. Annie May Burton and
Mrs. L. C. Jones.
„ , The subject "Home Making" was
your nana, and express to you in per- beautifully discussed and the use of
S?D ?T ,8,nCere ref?a,rd8, for. tb,e. man'y , the steam pressure cooker was ex-
stand that you are taKing in the mat-|plalned by Mig8 Maude Smith of Qk.
ter of the Tulsa Riot, as set forth in) mulgee
the last issue of the Dispatch, easily
the greatest Negro journal published The chief address was a health talk
in the United States today. J bv Dr. H. L. Muckleroy. It was in-
The government of the Uniteddeed an excellent one, full of interest-
States has heretofore successfully j tag information and advice.
pleaded "Lack of Jurisdiction" in all .. T „ . the crime prior to its perpetration,
cases wherever the interests of our! Attorney J. PL LUley, supt. of the and immediately thereafter,' and that
were rnnrerr.ert • m mzttar* ' Boy's Training School, was introduced j it would have been physically impos-
p*oy.e were concerned, m matters of a?d after a few remarks, ho Intro- sible for the colored man to have
i/nchingB, race riots and other damn- duced the 10 boys with him and they [ committed the offense as charged and
able outrages heaped upon our peo held the audience silent with Interest returned to Ills temporary habitat by
(Continued on page 5) while they sang several musical num- the railroad track.
Golden Rule Hat Shop, Finest
of its Kind in the United States
Throngs Gather,
Many Floral Of-
ferings
bers. The ladies and visitors insisted
on giving a collection to show their
appreciation and to encourage the
boys. Something over $27.00 was giv-
en.
There were 44 clubs represented;
delegates and officers, 90; amount of
money turned in, $368.69.
The following officers were elected
for the ensuing term: Mrs. A. H.
Cooper, President; Mrs.. P. S. C. Brad-
ley, 1st vice-president; Mrs. M. J.
Brockway, 2nd vice-president; Miss
D. Asher, recording sec'y.; Mrs. M. C.
Ilaynes, ass't. Rec. Sec'y.; Mrs. Em-
ma Backstrom, Treasurer; Mrs. B. A.
Osborne, Orgaizer; Mrs. E. W. Brew-
er, Chairman Executive Board; Mrs.
A. Young, Chaplain; Mrs. L. C. Rush-
ing, Statistician; Mrs. IT. P. Jacob-
son, Chairman Leg. Dept.; Miss Inez
Brockway, Cor. Sec'y.; Mrs. Judith
Horton, Parliamentarian.
The next place of meeting is Ard-
more, Okla.
Foolishly Playing
With Fire
Under the caption of "Foolishly
Playing With Fire" the Houston In-
former, one of the best Negro jour-
nals in the United States, has assem-
bled some facts that relate to a vi-
cious sort of publicity, given to Ne-
groes of the United States, by the
white press of the country. The Black
Dispatch is publishing the same for
the reason that the article squares
with the charge that the Black Dis-
patch has so often made. The article
follows:
"FOOLISHLY PLAYING WITH FIRE
Unjust, Oppressive and
Prejudicial
Courts Hold City Did Not Act
In Good Faith
Riot Trials In October
j Tulsa, Okla., Sept. 6. (Special to the
I Black Dispatch)—Mayor T. D. Evans
j and the Reconstruction Committee re-
ceived a huge bump when they ran
into the district court with their sec-
ond ordinance, designed to take the
place of the former ordinance which
proposed to deny black folk a chance
to rebuild their homes in the burned
area of the city. Thursday night at
9.;i0, the court rendered another de-
cision which forever*sets at rest the
covetious spirit of certain elements
of the city who have cast longing
eyes at North Greenwood and the sur-
rounding district. Immediately after
the decision of the court, recently,
Crowds estimated to aggregate in
number fully 1000 people, thronged
the beautiful new home of the Golden
Rule Hat Shop, Monday, and viewed
this wonderful establishment in its
news quarters in the Hall Building.
Mrs. L. R. Huckabee is to be compli-
mented for the stable millinery busi-
ness she has established in Oklahoma
City. The new quarters are easily
the finest that the Negroes have any-
where in the United States In fact, | ^"same ovdlnanceTwith"a' view'of
this was the expression of hundreds llodging the technical grounds upon
who have traveled extensively over, which tho rt had lnvalidated Pthe
the nation. They said oMnday, that statute> Thurgday> when the com-
the Golden Rule Hat Shop was he miaglon wag yanked lnto court by „ u(Juu
T0nth Vi Vif ii ' Negro petitioners and taxpayers, the • trict.
United States. In the beautifully car- Lit permanently enjoined from
peted and furnished quarters where ; enforci the ordinance on the gener.
hundreds of the finest hats hat the j a, d that the commission dfd not
market affords were on display, fra- act in good faith ,n si the 8ame
grant flowers were scattered in pro-1 Mather M local *hite attor.
fusion, sent by the many friends and appeared for the Negro peti-
patrons of the establishment. Here tionerg He all d that fhe £rdi.
fW™- nr Tnrt v! "J™?? nance, as passed, was unjust, oppres-
(5®, : u ,1 ™ u «'T i ' slve and "employs an unjust use of
i ' £l8LiLcGl£££' the Pojer." The court room
was crowded during the course of the
trial with black and whites, many
victims of the riot. Eakes brought
out the fact that the ordinance was
on the stand Mary E. Seaman, city
auditor. Her testimony was objected
to by the city attorney, Frank Dun-
can. The court over-ruled the ob-
jection and she was allowed to tes-
tify. She stated that in a commis-
sion meeting the commissioners stat-
ed they were going to pass the fire
ordinance for the reason that the dis-
trict was ideally located for an indus-
trial center. Many Negroes testified
as to the health conditions in the dis
trict where they were barred from
building. They stated to the court
that lack of sewage facilities made
sanitary arrangements impossible.
. Tents, they stated further, were the
which set aside the first fire ordi- only way in which they were permit-
ance, the city commission re-passed ted by the city to house themselves.
The coming winter would witness the
death of hundreds of them were the
court not to give the much sought for
relief, so that homes could be erected
upon the property owned in the dis-
Thomas Edwards, Tuskegee Club,
Mrs. T. H. James, Mrs. R. F. North,
"The Haberdashery," R. S. Jacobson,
J. H. Townsend, (wholesale millinery)
T. Tobias (wholesale millinery); Mrs. not ed a3 a flre protection meas-
T H Traylor, Mrs Goodwin. Aldridge! but lnstead of £atabliahlng flre
Theatre. Buford and Owens, Mr. Jer- j limit the cit commi8slon ,„tended
ILT2rln8«"d'^!8 Wi,lianl3' to establish an industrial center. To
and Mrs. Hawkins ye hia contenti0n, Eakes placed
Mrs. L. R. Huckabee started a mil- j
linery shop in this city seven years ■
ago. Thru hard work and careful | jy published citizens scoured the
The future attitude of the city in
this matter was indicated by Mayor
Evans, Saturday, when he stated that
the city would not appeal from the de-
cision of the court. He stated fur-
ther that the building inspector would
be instructed to issue building per-
mits in the district to Negro property
owners.
The first of the trials for rioting
that will be staged in the district
court Ttill be called during the fall
term of the District Court, which
opens September 14, before Jid^o
Redmond S. Cole. Harrison Basken
and William Dixon, both Negroes, will
be tried for alleged participation la
the riots of June 1st.
  pa,in8t"15intK service she has built up a | COuntry for the guilty culprit and told
"There seems to be a well outlined : the offfce™. 'Turn your backs if we
and defined program of propaganda to , & *egr0 WOmen fr0nl a" 0ver °k"' him!'
stigmatize and label the colored race I,. „
get him!
"In order that the world might
know how crimes are manufactured
millinery world. The new establish-1 tions> we 8hall reproduce verbatim
ment is the result of a pressing need | two news stories from the Memphis
for larger quarters. The display win- j Commercial Appeal regarding 'rape
dows in the new establishment are; stories' featured on its front page the
the equal of any down-town display i preceding dav-
windows down in the heart of the j _J 
city. Hundreds of hats are stacked NEGRO STORY FAL8E
up In the well-stocked drawers and j  
shelves of the establishment and the; Mrs. Morac Ad(nits HeP Asia,|ant a
White Man, Gives Names.
and detainers5 of ^woman^ood1)011,1101 S l m®°t a corP* of skilled atendants and I aga'inst'the Colored race "in "the South
Espedalfy does tWs irdquitous, in- X^tyKnStalSi'"kSJStoffi I1"I 1W?t T*
jurious, infernal and inflammatory Iand -railroaded to the penal instltu-
program seem to be gaining headway
in Dixie and direful and disastrous
will be the consequences if persisted
in and carried to extremes as is the
modern mode.
"As soon as a criminal assault is
committed or purported to have been
done, the cry is immediately raised
that the perpetrator was or is a 'big,
black, burly brutef and then this
timely suggestion: 'It is feared that
if he is apprehended a lynching will
take place."
"Such news stories and damnable
propaganda are becoming daily news-
paper items and thus the mob spirit is
fanned and encouraged, at the same
time the colored race is depicted to
the world as beasts, brutes and ra-
pists pf the deepest dye.
"Recently several of these sensa-
tional 'rape' and 'assault' stories,
which served or almost served their
purpose, were later repudiated and de-
clared a fabrication.
"Look at the loss of life and proper-
ty in Tulsa because of such yellow
journalism and its resultant kindling
of the fire of racial hate, antipathy,
prejudice and distrust.
"The 'assault' story increased the
sale of the newspaper carrying it, but,
considering the material damage done
and black eye given Tulsa, Okla., and
the South, was the game really worth
the ammunition?
Fully thirty people were injured
by the fire of the sheriff and his depu-
ties in Knoxville, Tenn., last week, by
more of this insidious and infernal
propaganda, when howling and hun-
gry hoodlums, blood-thirsty and mo-
tivated by 'yellow ' journalism, sought
to forcibly enter the jail and mete
out summary punishment to the usual
'black fiend.'
"One of the white daily newspapers
of that city said that white witnesses
could prove that the alleged black
criminal 'was lying besides a railroad
track one and one-half miles from
Negro women o fOklahoma City can
rest assured that their every want
in head-gear can be satisfied in the
"GREATER" Golden Rule Shop.
The alleged assault of Mrs. Annie
May Morac was a white man, a former
friend of hers, whose name is now
known to the police.
The facts in the case were brought
yesterday afternoon after Mrs.
ai^d the land of the free. To me, it
is very plain, the door of hope is
closed. Can you give me any reason
for optimism? I answered, "Yes."
Then in substance, I gave the follow-
ing reasons for believing a better day
is dawning:
1. Our enemies are not as numer-
ous as they seem. They are making
so much noise and using such shock-
ing and bold publicity, they seem to
be more than they are, and to repre-
sent more power than they do. Tul-
sa very well illustrates this point.
The fact that Negro homes and busi-
ness places were wantonly looted and
burned in broad daylight after their
occupartts were in custody of the law.
would indicate that the Negro had
no white friends in that city. That
in the opinion of the white people in
Tulsa, there were no laws in Okla-
homa for the Negro's protection. The
fact is only a small percent of Tulsa
"white people approved what had been
and what was being done. Because
a prejudiced city administration ap-
"The young woman's watch was
found with this crude message: 'Here | out   ,     
is Jesse watch take charge off the ne-, Morac had been questioned for two
gro my face grease black I sorie gone . hours in the office of Inspector Grif- .   
from here.' , fin. She said fear for her life at the ! proved, the will of a large majority
"Here are a few other recent 'as- j bands of the man caused her to claim j the white citizens was ignored and
sault' and 'rape' stories and subse-1 that a Negro had attempted the as-: over-ruled. This claim is borne out
quent repudiations. Note how the j 3auit. | by the fact that the Tulsa World edi-
original stories are 'played up' and | When she was brought to Inspector torially, took a decided stand for the
contrast them with the retractions,! Griffin's office at headquarters yes- ~
repudiations or denials—whatever one i terday she at first was indignant at
desires to call them. the suggestion that she knew the iden-
The Memphis, Tenn., Commercial j tity of her assailant. Bui after two
Appeal, in its issue of Friday, July
29. 1921, carried a front page story
about colored man assaulting a white
woman, under the caption: 'WOMAN
BEATS OFF NEGRO ASSAULTER.'
On this same page was another
story headed: 'YOUNG GIRL DRAG-
GEL FROM WALK, ROBBED.'
"The following day, the same news-!
paper, on page five, retracted the >
false charges carried in the preceding j
day's paper with such headings: i
Galley FOUR—4 .
FAKE ASSAULT CASES AROUSE.
DETECTIVES:' 'NEGRO STORY
FALSE:' 'POLICE DISMISS CASE.'
"The Memphis Press, afternoon
daily, carried news Items and editor-
ial concerning these false reports,
captioned: 'NAB WHITE MAN IN AS-
SAULT CASE:' 'POLICE THINK NO
ASSAULT TRIED:' 'FAKE CRIMES
REPORTS SCORED BY RICHARDS:'
'FAKE ASSAULT STORIES.'
"In all of the reported 'rape' and
'assault' stories, given such promi-
nence on the front page of one of the
South's leading white daily newspa-
hours she told the inspector the man's
name, and the city Is now being
searched for him.
The man has been a friend of Mrs.
Morac for a long time, she told the
inspector. At one time the furniture
In her home was owned by him. The
conversation with the writer, in the
compartment for Negroes on a Rock
.  . Island train, thru Arkansas, last week
pers, the lie was given to each one said: "I see no hope for the black
by the authorities and the cases dis- man, absolutely none, in this coun-
missed; yet when they were original-, try, mis-called the homo of the brave
Negroes and every civic body in the
city gave the benefit of its influence
to let fir play prevail. Only two
voices, outside of the ranks of the
grafter and politician, a bishop and a
pastor of the M. E. Church, South,
I am sorry to say, were heard favor-
ing dispossessing the Negroes of their
homes. And, I believe, if those men
could recall their cruel utterances
they would gladly do so. The decis-
ion of the three judges who decided
against the nefarious fire ordinance
crystallzed public sentiment against
those who had wronged and outraged
the Negro.
• 2. Aonther reason for optimism lies
in the fact that, in every southern
state university (white) the major
sociological study is the Negro. The
young white men and women attend-
ing these schools are studying Ne-
gro statistics. Criminal? Yes, but
progressive as well. In tneir study
of his criminal record they, also,
study the laws governing the Negro
in the south and those who execute
f them. In this way, these students
A highly intelligent Negro Minister.!??1 information convincing that the
graduate of Howard University, in
Hope!
The Reason For
Optomism
Negro's criminal record is not only
unfair but untrue. After having stud-
ied, from the standpoint of facts and
figures tne remarkable progress the
Negro has made under every handl-
(Continued on Editorial page)